Save for the National League’s 8-0 win in 2012, the games have been fairly close affairs, with 12 of the last 19 games decided by one or two runs. Less is more, quite frankly.įor FOX, the network certainly has to appreciate the potential of increased viewership in the late innings of a tight game. Cutting out extra innings from what has always been an exhibition game helps everyone avoid the possibility of another 4-½ hour, 15-inning slog of an event such as the 2008 swan song for the old Yankee Stadium.
On top of that, it has only gone to extras three times since the infamous 2002 tie that led to then-commissioner Bud Selig hitching home-field advantage to the World Series to the winning side. The Midsummer Classic hasn’t often gone to extra innings in its lengthy history (13 times since the first ASG in 1933). All sides involved with Major League Baseball hope that this latest tweak reinvigorates the All-Star Game just like the NBA’s starry exhibition was freshened up with the Elam ending.įor starters, this means that the game itself has as close to a predictable end time as it ever had. Despite the predictable fist-shaking about any adjustment to the sanctity of the game, this is a good and smart move for an event that has gone stale long ago. Though this is another way to create excitement about the game itself at the stadium, clearly this format change is about television. It’s got to be a fresh guy doing that.” )
“I don’t even know,” he replied about potentially being one of the selected hitters – he wasn’t. (Funny enough when asked about the change during a media session, it was news to the Washington Nationals’ star outfielder Juan Soto, who would end up winning the Derby despite incredible efforts by Seattle’s Julio Rodriguez.